The Long Morrow
by iheartweasleys
Summary: As her life is plunged into a new era, Kaylee begins to realize there is more to live than engine parts. Post BDM with semi AU. KayleeSimon with splashes of ZoeWash and MalInara.


_Authors Note: This is an AU where Wash is still alive. In my first drafts, I had included him in the canon world, but burying him was too hard for me, therefore I had to bring him back. Besides, stories are no fun with him. This story will predominantly feature on Kaylee and Simon, with sprinkles of Inara/Mal and Wash/Zoe. Everything that happened after the burial scene in Serenity hasn't happened. Enjoy!_

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The ship was silent as they took off from the cliff that had become the gravestones of their two friends. Shepard Book and Mr. Universe. They had been two good men. The shepard had been a mystery never to be solved, and Mr. Universe was a genius, albeit a genius who's work had been finished too soon. It was hard to imagine their friends gone, and the countless others who had died because of them. They were rebels. Insurgents. Radicals. They were Independents at heart, yet petty thieves on the surface. Yet their work was complete, they had sent the wave out and things were going to be on the mend. The Alliance would take a blow for their work.

Kaylee walked into the kitchen, her tear stained face paler than usual. She needed something to drink, something to keep her busy. Book had been her friend, he had been a friend to every one of them on the ship. It was he who had given her her first taste of strawberry in years, and in turn she had allowed him passageway on the ship. The day they had met was still fresh. It happened to coincide with the day that she had been shot. She touched her stomach through her overalls, the scar was still there.

She turned when she heard footsteps enter into the room. She smiled softly. Simon. He was the reason that she was carrying on. Although he still had not made her move on him, the chemistry between the pair was invigorating. There was just no way that he could ignore her advances any longer.

She reached up, opening a cabinet with shaking hands but was stopped when she felt his hand on her arm. She stood, no longer able to hold in the tears that had subsided only a few minutes before. She turned into him, leaning her frail body against his chest. She felt his arms encompass her, softly soothing her.

"It ain't fair that the shepard had to die Simon." She said, pulling back slowly and turning her hazel eyes upward to him.

He nodded silently. It wasn't fair that innocent lives had been lost, but that was the terrible beauty of war. People died; end of story. Yet he hadn't been able to save any of them. Not one single person had benefited from having him around. "I know. But we're alive, that's the way that Book would have wanted it." He said, brushing her untamed hair from her face.

She nodded. The silence between them grew, but in itself spoke volumes. He leant down, his eyes searching with her own to make sure that he wasn't being hasty. He didn't want to ruin things with Kaylee anymore. She was the light at the end of his long, dark tunnel and he had fought only days before for her.

Before his lips could touch her own though, a fleet of people entered the room hungry for something other than sadness. Simon pulled back, turning around to face the rag-tag crew. Malcolm stood, seriousness etched in every crevice of his face, Inara beside him looking ethereal as always. Zoe and Wash sat down, his hand protectively on her waist. River sat at the table, looking like this was normal for her. Yet her eyes told tales of woe. Jayne entered last.

"What's for eating." The man said, sitting down at the table with a resounding thud. "I feel as if I ain't eaten for days."

The crowd looked at him, and Inara could not stop herself from rolling her eyes. Kaylee stepped out from behind the doctor. "I'll make us something to eat." She offered, turning back to the open cupboard and pulling out some protein chicken and rice. "It'll be ready in a jiffy."

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The engine room buzzed, it's orange warmth flowing over the young mechanic. She walked to the engine, making sure that everything was in tact. They were heading off the rock in five minutes, and she wanted to give the all clear so that she could take a break. She needed to rest, she felt as if she had been going non-stop for a month. Everything had been so fast. Rivers outbursts, Fanty and Mingo's job, the Alliance and the Reavers. Miranda…

Wash's lighthearted voice filled the engine room, reverberating around the walls and snapping Kaylee from her reverie. "What's the deal Kaylee?" He asked.

"Everything's shiny Wash." She said, calling out from the door to the engine room and garnering a thumbs up from the man who was seating in his usual chair, Zoe by his side like the beautiful warrior woman that she was.

Leaving the engine room behind, she pushed open the ladder to her room and began the descent. However, her departure was cut short by a voice. "Kaylee!" Simon said, running towards her before she disappeared into her dorm.

She stopped mid-climb, a sudden smile bursting forth on her face like the old Kaylee would have given. "What can I do you for?" She asked brightly.

"I was hoping we could talk." He said, wringing his hands nervously.

Yet Kaylee didn't notice his obvious discomfort. She smiled, continuing to climb. "Come on down." She said, her head moving past the painted sign that she had hung on the door as she dropped to the floor of the dimly lit room.

Simon climbed down, but seemed unnatural in his neatly pressed black pants and crisp white shirt, his crimson waistcoat tying the outfit together. He looked around the room. It was the first time he had been inside of it. It was very…Kaylee. The smattering of fairy lights around the room, and the brightly painted décor on the wall perfectly describe the woman that he had been falling for.

"What'd you want to talk about?" She asked, flopping down on her bed and taking off the top half of her overalls, revealing a bright floral tee-shirt.

He joined her, perching himself on the edge of the bed. "Well, I was hoping we could talk about us."

This perked the tiny mechanic up, and a broad smile fell across her face, which erased the memory of what had happened previously. Graves and dead friends left her brain, and she could focus on only one thing. She inched closer to him. "Yeah!" She said eagerly, which caused Simon to chuckle.

"Kaylee, for this past year I have always been intrigued by you." He began, wanting desperately to touch her, but not mustering the courage. "This battle, this fight just made me realize that I think I…"

He was cut off however, by a bout of static filling their ears. Kaylee cringed, and Simon put his hands to his ears.

"Sorry about this folks. This is your delightful captain speaking. We'll be landing in Persephone in the morning. Have a great night." He said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. Kaylee could almost picture him standing in the cockpit, his hand on hip and lopsided grin on his face.

She turned back to Simon, but the moment was ruined. He was standing, his arms folded protectively over his chest. "I should go check on River." He said, and with a smile he was climbing back up and out of her room.

She sighed. "Story of my life."

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